Straddling the Neva river with splendorous architectural landmarks steeped in imperial history, it’s hard to imagine St. Petersburg even has an industrial legacy. But yes, it has, and similarly to many cities across the planet, obsolete industrial buildings are being preserved and repurposed, becoming noteworthy elements of the urban fabric once again. And such is the case with Lenpolygraphmash, a former downtown production site which has seen several industrial incarnations since the first mechanical workshops settled here in 1890. Situated in the city’s Petrogradskiy district, the site features a cluster of buildings, including a metering station of a pumping unit, and which is now occupied by Futura. Founded by Ilya Litvyak, a lecturer at ITMO University, and chef Dmitry Roshchin, it’s one of the many hospitality venues and young tech companies which have made Lenpolygraphmash their home. The hospitality format takes cues from Scandinavian lifestyle, and accordingly, features an interior design, outdoor terrace, basketball court, and last but not least, a soon to open roof terrace, all created by local architecture practice Rhizome.
The space has been fully redeveloped and now sees an open configuration, creating direct visual interaction between staff and all their culinary dexterity in the kitchen – mind you, a full-fledged bakery forms part of this section – and seated guests, and also revealing the upper part of the restroom area, and as such, creating a sense of lightness, while also contributing to the venue’s informal atmosphere. Void of any superfluous decorative elements, Futura not only stays true to its understated Nordic format, but also honours the building’s industrial legacy, featuring custom made furnishings by local design studios Delo Design and Verstak, paired with functional lighting and minimalistic surfaces which demonstrate the characteristics of chosen materials. New walls and partitions are made of autoclaved aerated concrete blocks, enabling to create a sustainable and functional interior. Futura‘s name, emblazoned in bold Cyrillic letters across the black façade, has been created by Moscow-based graphic designer Alexey Bistrov while visual artist Alexey Kio was commissioned a large abstract mural on a building right next door and clearly visibly through one of the large side windows. The all-day menu at Futura lists a rotation of tasty dishes with meat, chicken and fish, in addition to homemade bread and pastries.
Futura
Naberezhnaya Reki Karpovki 5/36
197376 St. Petersburg
Telephone: +7 999 5344509
Mon-Thu 11-8
Fri-Sun 11-9
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
